April 2015

April 30, 2015

A group of companies and individuals doing business as HOPE Services told consumers facing foreclosure they could get help from legitimate, government-backed programs, such as Making Home Affordable – but only after they made three monthly trial payments into a so-called mortgage lender’s trust account, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

Then, the FTC said, HOPE Services pocketed that money, while strongly discouraging homeowners from talking to a lawyer or to their mortgage lender – even as homeowners faced foreclosure notices and hearings.

April 29, 2015

Many consumers are looking for ways to help people affected by the massive earthquake in Nepal and the Katmandu Valley region.

If you’re looking for a way to give, be sure to do research so that your donation will go to a reputable organization that will use the money as promised.

Urgent appeals for aid that you get in person, by phone or mail, by e-mail, on websites, or on social networking sites may not be on legitimate. Unfortunately, reputable charities face competition from fraudsters who either solicit for bogus charities or aren't entirely honest about how the “charity” will use your contribution.

April 28, 2015

Corinthian Colleges, a chain of for-profit colleges that at one time had 72,000 students, announced Sunday it would end all operations.

Corinthian’s closure follows enforcement actions by the U.S. Department of Education and by states.

The department took action in June 2014, when Corinthian failed to respond to requests for answers about questionable practices, including concerns that Corinthian was falsifying job placement rates, and that it might be changing student grade and attendance information to hide performance problems.

As Sightings surveyed the baby boomer blogs this week, he wondered whether it would be possible for the earth to retire from its job of supporting over 7 billion humans.

One blogger wrote about her vacation to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. She visited pyramids near there that were constructed between 400 and 1000 A.D. by people who preceded the Aztecs. They wandered for centuries, carrying the remains of an ancient king, and finally buried them there.

April 27, 2015

Trek bicycles is recalling about 900,000 bicycles equipped with front disc brakes in the United States and 98,000 in Canada.

An open quick release lever on the bicycle’s front wheel hub can come into contact with the front disc brake assembly, causing the front wheel to stop suddenly or separate from the bicycle, posing a risk of injury to the rider, the company and U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said.

Trek has reported three incidents. One resulted in quadriplegia, a second one facial injuries, and a third a fractured wrist.

Tom Sightings of Sightings from Sixty has taken part in this boomer roundup almost as long as Carter. Sightings has been traveling, in search of some warm weather and early signs of spring. Now, on the last day of his trip, he finally confesses to “A Dirty Little Secret.”

April 15, 2015

Busy before I left in March working on my photos, I didn’t get my income taxes done.

I thought about filing an extension, but I read that you need to estimate your taxes if you think you need to pay. Since the income from my writing business varies, I wasn’t sure what to do. You can be fined if you underpay.

When I got home, I put in my TurboTax disk. I used TurboTax for the first time last year. It worked O.K., but caused me some problems because several of the categories were different to ones I’d used before. I didn’t notice that until near the end of my preparation. I had to refigure some categories.